And more surprises . . . this is a major wake raking the bank of the Harlem River!

This foto hangs at the Ear Inn. I liked the image until I noticed that this hair product advertisement uses a wrecked ship and locals looting supplies from said wreck. Now imagine a business did this today . . . .

A vessel aims to maintain equilibrium and productivity despite wind, cold, and isolation; arms spread here do what mine attempt while crossing a narrow gangplank. Life is full of such risk-takings.

I’ve used some of these White, GA, fotos before, but part of what attracts me to the car is the art of Jacek Yerka.

This foto accompanies a story in Yerka’s book with Harlan Ellison called Mind Fields, with over two dozen such images accompanied by short fiction.

Here’s another, marking the beginning of the calendar phase called Aquarius, what this post is really about.

Teaser: When you get to the last foto in this post, you’ll see a foreign icebreaker operating on the Hudson, but I believe the assigned registry is wrong.

I almost called this “maritime monday morning after ….” I’d rather think of it as a fashion shoot given the sopping right side of my middleparts below, but for full disclosure, neither I nor the guffawing bowsprite to my left spilled the delicious beer onto my lap. But you’ll have to decide on a caption.

Some suggestions might relate to the hazards of having uncapped liquids on a table in an establishment old enough to be haunted by poltergeists OR strange rituals among waterbloggers seeking solace from seasonal affective disorder OR the hazards of drawing SUCH lifelike figures on a tablecloth and talking about them (in recollection of last summer’s adventures) that they might twitch … because a shark’s tail MIGHT just spasm and flick. Truth be told, Brooklyn lager rained down off the side of the table and I didn’t immediately standup because the downpour by then was over and soaked through my winterchill layers.

Previous accounts of our “conference” left out the miracle of our putting the Earmaid to work carrying beer or handing out coasters decals . . . OMG . . . those were DECALS, folks!! It also failed to mention

how lively the shark became when a drawing of the east end of Long Island sprouted teeth . . . north and south fork transforming into upper and lower jaw seemed somewhat menacing to the otherwise confident porbeagle. Thanks to Carolina Salguero for these fotos.

Maybe you wonder why I hang my free time on the water and blog about it . . . I wonder that too sometimes, often in fact, and just conclude it’s what I do to feel happy . . . corny, maybe but true.

The water that is the sixth boro is many things to many folks: an obstacle, a place of employment, a zone to regulate, a playpen. For me, it’s a teacher and guide, a mentor whose help and consolation I sometimes need, a place where I’ve found many rewarding friendships . . . yeah . .. with humans. (Like the one who sent the last foto on this post . . . not the foto below, which shows Eagle Atlanta and Eagle Beaumont, slightly nearer, older and smaller of the two, at anchor in the vicinity of the Narrows.)

OK, that “foreign icebreaker” was represented to me as Norwegian. And I fell for it in Dave’s email subject line . . . even though I’ve seen this guy on several other blogs previously.

I beg to differ . . . the lines and attitude convince me this icebreaker must be Dutch. And here I issue a challenge . . . how about a series of fotos of such water denizens as . . . maybe more Dutch icebreakers, a Chinese submarine, a Welsh dredge . . . help me out here.

Fotos 3 through 6 by Will Van Dorp, and the foto 7 . . . sent to me by a friend but watermarked to joe-ks.com.

When January has ended and winter still holds us in its icy grip, some folks around the sixth boro get together and engage in group therapy to exorcise the demons of cold and isolation. Here and here are previous sessions.

Here’s a group shot of those seeking solace from the debilitation of February fevers and agues last evening at the Ear Inn about 8 pm.

Frogma, who issued the convocation to gather, launches into the treatment: evoke summer future and

conjure up villains of summers past, no

matter how toothy.

There’s always next summer, when spirits will be again youthful and carefree,

always.

Here’s Adam’s account of last night. Besides Frogma and TQ, also representing different takes on the sixth boro last night were Carolina of PortSide NewYork, Peconic Puffin, Rick Old Salt, John and Vicky (who drew the mermaid above) of Summit to Shore, Bowsprite (who shaded in the shark and breathed life into it) , and yours truly (whose fingers extruded the outline of the shark, as if from tribal memory of terror).